The Purana Index v1.c3.1

v1.c3.1

Some years back I delivered a lecture under the auspices of the University of Madras on the Purāṇas and it has been published in the *Indian Historical Quarterly*, Vol. VIII, No. 4. Ever since I have been pursuing the study of the subject and the result has been a feeling that a comprehensive index of the Purāṇas is a desideratum. We have an index of Vedic literature by Prof. Macdonell and A. B. Keith; we have also the index to the Mahābhārata by Dr. Sorenson. I felt that the most important branch of Indian literature, viz., the Purāṇas should similarly have an index for all the eighteen major Mahāpurāṇas. But due to want of time I have confined myself to five of them, viz., the Vāyu, the Brahmāṇḍa, the Viṣṇu, the Matsya and the Bhāgavata. Though the other Purāṇas are of equal historical importance and cultural value, I have selected these five because they are in my opinion the most ancient compositions among the eighteen Purāṇas. Their antiquity will be examined in the following pages in the section on the date of the Purāṇas.